US Open| The chair umpire should not have pushed Serena, says Novak Djokovic

09/11/2018

Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin Del Potro believe that the chair umpire made things difficult for Serena Williams in the final game of the US Open. Djokovic also mentioned that the umpire shouldn't have pushed her off the edge while Del Potro felt that female players deserve equal rights.

While the US Open final of the men's ran a normal course, it was the night before that would forever remain the highlight of the 2018 Grand Slam campaign. Serena Williams' loss against Naomi Osaka and its aftermath has been the talk of the week. Williams got into a heated dispute with the chair umpire and spun out of control ending up being handed code violations that she described as unfair.

She was consequently slammed with fines that went up to USD 17,000 for three violations during the match amidst which the American also accused umpire Carlos Ramos of sexism. Ramos first gave Williams a warning for coaching after he ruled that her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, gave her hand signals from the stands. Then she got a point penalty for smashing her racket, followed by a game penalty for verbal abuse after she confronted the umpire.

Williams also claimed that she was fighting for women rights because according to her, male players have often gotten away by stating things to the umpires while women were imposed with a heavy fine. Male finalists Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin Del Potro seconded her on that and said that they felt bad about whatever happened with Serena. Djokovic also mentioned that the umpire went a bit too much along with her that was unnecessary according to him.

“I really felt for Serena. Tough thing for a chair umpire to deal with, as well. We have to empathize with him. Everyone was in a very awkward situation yesterday. A lot of emotions really, Serena was crying. Naomi was crying. It was really tough. But I have my personal opinion that maybe the chair umpire should not have pushed Serena to the limit, especially in a Grand Slam final. He did change the course of the match. was in my opinion, maybe, unnecessary. We all go through our emotions, especially when you’re fighting for a Grand Slam trophy,” he said.

Del Potro stated that he didn't expect anything like such to happen at such an iconic final. He also stated that female players are deserving of equal rights and treatments by the entire tennis fraternity.

“Of course the final was not the final that everybody expected. I agree that the girls have to be treated the same as the men, win the same money. They made a big effort to play these kinds of tournaments and they deserve to be treated the same as we are,” he quoted.

US Open| The chair umpire should not have pushed Serena, says Novak Djokovic

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